The Oxford Bach Choir (OBC) was founded in 1896 by Basil Harwood, then organist of Christ Church, to further the music of J S Bach in the city. In 1905, it merged with the Oxford Choral and Philharmonic Society, whose origins can be traced back to 1819. The membership of the Choir, which is drawn from the city, its surrounds and students from the universities, regularly performs with professional soloists and leading orchestras.

Among the Choir’s conductors have been Sir Hugh Allen, W H Harris, Sir Thomas Armstrong, Sydney Watson, Simon Preston and Christopher Robinson. From 1997 until 2015, the Choir’s principal conductor was Nicholas Cleobury, who has recently taken up the position of Head of Opera at the Queensland Conservatorium in Brisbane. From 2008 until June 2016, Timothy Byram-Wigfield, Director of Music at All Saints, Margaret Street, London, was OBC’s Associate Conductor. Starting in the 2016-2017 season, the Choir’s new music director will be David Crown.

The Choir has always maintained a close relationship with Bach’s music but it has also always aimed to provide singers and audiences alike with a wide range of choral music from the seventeenth century onwards.

It has also always supported new music, giving almost twenty world premieres, including the first performance of Parry’s Songs of Farewell as a complete cycle (1919), Vaughan Williams’ Sancta Civitas (1926), the orchestral version of Walton’s The Twelve (1966), Nicholas Maw’s Hymnus, commissioned for the Choir’s centenary in 1996, Martin Butler’s Two Rivers (2001), and Bob Chilcott’s Requiem (2010), as well as early performances of works by such composers as Elgar, Holst, Constant Lambert, David Matthews, James MacMillan and Jonathan Dove.